MRFF: USAFA Speaker McClary not a “True Christian”

In its ongoing letter writing campaign attempting to dissuade Gen Gould from inviting Lt Clebe McClary to a prayer luncheon, the MRFF reveals why it wants McClary banned from the Air Force Academy: He’s not a “true Christian.”

1st Lt. Clebe McClary should not be allowed to speak at the prayer luncheon because he does not represent true Christianity but a distorted view of it. Mainline Christians have reached the point of disgust over the dominionists who are taking our country to war to cleanse the earth of all non-Christians, different religions and non-religious “in Jesus name…”

These extremists worship a different Christ than the one in the bible…

Pastor Joan Slish – Assemblies of God
Advisory Board – MRFF

Apparently, if the military would only evaluate people’s religions — making sure they invited only true Christians — and listen to the MRFF in its analysis of who is a “true” Christian and who isn’t, everyone would be ok.

Except for that whole Constitution/religious freedom thing the MRFF so frequently forgets.

13 comments

I’ve said it before and will say it again: the whole brouhaha regarding Mikey Weinstein and MRFF is a tempest in a teapot. If McClary goes nuts and turns the prayer luncheon into a revival, then Mikey will have a point, but until then, it’s all hyperbole.

What’s worse, it’s all incestuous hyperbole. Mikey is a member of Truthout’s board of advisers, so anything MRFF releases gets instant press there. Chris Rodda, as MRFF’s “senior researcher,” regularly regurgitates MRFF releases onto the Huffington Post blog. I’m unsure whether there’s a direct connection between the Foundation and the Veterans Today website, but I put very little credibility into a site whose senior editor claims the Air Force Academy has been taken over by “a psycho-sexual religious cult that worships nuclear Armageddon.”

A psycho-sexual religious cult? I’m Pagan, and if something like that is really going on at the Air Force Academy, then I want to know why I wasn’t invited!

Mikey, Ms. Rodda and company are fast falling toward the “Glenn Beck” level of credibility, in my mind. And that’s not a compliment … not by a long shot. Continuing to stir the pot without evidence of actual wrongdoing on the Academy’s part won’t help their case.

I did not read in the excerpt that Lt McClary was not a true Christian, I read “DOES NOT REPRESENT true Christianity but a distorted view of it.” They can only base this on what the Lt says, does, or writes.

Joan is expressing exactly the same opinion of McClary’s message that MRFF’s mainline Christian clients have expressed to us. The officer at the Academy who wrote the letter to MRFF on behalf of himself and about a dozen of his fellow officers is a Methodist. This officer, who does not feel that he has the option to skip the luncheon without consequences, has heard McClary speak before, and said his message made him “sick.” In one of her emails regarding this situation, Joan actually quoted a slew of passages from the Bible supporting the opinion of herself and other Christians that McClary’s message is contrary to what the Bible records Jesus as saying.

Contrary to the propaganda, MRFF is not objecting to McClary simply because he’s a Christian. We are objecting to him speaking at an event that should be inclusive of Airmen of all faiths, because the message that he delivers at his military appearances is not only not inclusive of members of non-Christian religions, but not even inclusive of many Christians.

watchtower :
“Without evidence” of wrong doing? Where have you been Phoenix?

Paying attention to what’s actually going on at the Academy, rather than blindly drinking the Kool-Aid.

Chris Rodda :
This officer, who does not feel that he has the option to skip the luncheon without consequences, has heard McClary speak before, and said his message made him “sick.”

Contrary to the propaganda, MRFF is not objecting to McClary simply because he’s a Christian. We are objecting to him speaking at an event that should be inclusive of Airmen of all faiths, because the message that he delivers at his military appearances is not only not inclusive of members of non-Christian religions, but not even inclusive of many Christians.

Is this officer aware of his or her legal recourse? If s/he has been pressured to attend this luncheon against his or her will, that’s something the Academy’s Equal Opportunity Office can take action on, and that’s something Lt. Gen. Gould needs to know about.

Does taking on inappropriate behavior require courage? Absolutely. You have to have cojones of steel to tell an O-6, “Sir, you’re out of line.” But frankly, I wouldn’t want to serve under an officer who’s not capable of doing that.

With that said, I’ve spoken with a Pagan officer who’s heard McClary speak before, at an Aerospace Basic Course at Maxwell Air Force Base, and said there was nothing untoward about his presentation. So whom do we believe — your anonymous source or mine?

I think MRFF would have much more solid ground to stand on if it waited to see what McClary said at the luncheon, then took action. Of course, the risk then is that McClary wouldn’t say anything controversial, and you’d have a harder time manufacturing a large enough controversy to fill MRFF’s coffers. Simply put, an organization that believes in integrity wouldn’t jump to conclusions based on its own religious prejudices.

No, I’m saying that based on McClary’s past statements at other military events and elsewhere, MRFF’s Christian clients, many of whom have heard him speak, do not think his message represents what the Bible says about who is considered a Christian. Joan Slish, a Christian minister and MRFF Advisory Board member, agrees with these Christians who have come to MRFF for help.

@Chris Rodda – But now you’re getting into a much more fundamental problem — who gets to decide whether someone is, or is not, a Christian? Do you really want the Air Force Academy to get into that business?

Phoenix Blue, you sort of have the issue backwards. It is speakers like McClary who make statements deciding who is or isn’t a Christian, not the other way around. The mainline Christians at the Air Force Academy who contacted us are understandably offended by this. Who is this guy to tell them that they don’t qualify as Christians?

@Chris Rodda – As a private individual, McClary has the right to express his opinions regarding who is or is not Christian. The Air Force Academy, as a government institution, does not. If McClary were the only person participating in the luncheon, you’d have a good case that the Academy is violating the Establishment Clause, but he’s not: as has been previously mentioned, members of other faith traditions will also participate in this event.

To those who are offended by McClary’s viewpoints, I can sympathize. I don’t agree with his beliefs at all. But there’s no right in the Constitution to be free from offense. Will McClary and others be offended by the Muslim or Buddhist prayer offerings? It’s entirely possible, but I haven’t heard anything from them claiming that the Academy’s wrong for including nods to other religions, and I don’t think the Academy leadership would have included other religious figures if the objective were truly to indoctrinate others.

Wow…despite several organizations objections and letters written to the contrary, this Lt seems to be [like] the second coming. We do have a right to be from offense Phoenix, except the Military member. Most people can walk away or avoid offensive situations all together. Many of our troops have indicated without a doubt that the things their leadership is doing with regard to religion working it’s way into everything they do is offensive to them. Even a fellow marine has said publicly that Lt McClary’s religious views are distorted. Not sure what more we need to say about it really. Gotta love that Kool-Aid.